Summary of "The Science of Gratitude & How to Build a Gratitude Practice | Huberman Lab Essentials"

Key Wellness Strategies, Self-Care Techniques, and Productivity Tips from

Enhances mental and physical health.
Increases subjective well-being, including happiness, meaning, joy, and awe.
Builds resilience to past and future trauma.
Improves social relationships broadly (work, family, romantic, self).
Shifts neural circuits toward pro-social behaviors and away from defensive/fear circuits.
Reduces inflammation markers such as TNF alpha and IL6, and decreases amygdala activity linked to threat detection.
Enhances motivation and reduces anxiety.

Gratitude activates pro-social neural circuits involving serotonin release.
Key brain areas involved:
- Anterior cingulate cortex
- Medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)
The mPFC sets the context of experiences, influencing whether an experience is perceived positively or negatively.
Genuine motivation and wholehearted intention are crucial; forced or fake gratitude is ineffective or harmful.

Studies show that receiving gratitude (e.g., hearing a letter of thanks) activates the prefrontal cortex more strongly than expressing gratitude.

Engage with powerful stories about others receiving help or gratitude.
Stories should evoke genuine emotional connection and highlight the human spirit and helping behaviors.
Stories can be consumed via movies, podcasts, books, or personal memories.

Choose a meaningful story (your own or someone else’s) involving genuine thanks received.
Write 3–4 bullet points summarizing the story:
- The state before receiving gratitude.
- The state after receiving gratitude.
- Emotional highlights of the story.
Use these bullet points as cues during practice.

Instead of traditional gratitude lists, focus on receiving gratitude or imagining receiving it.
Incorporate gratitude stories into daily or weekly routines.
Reflect deeply on the feelings and context of receiving thanks.
Use the same story repeatedly to condition your nervous system.
Combine [[gratitude practice](https://www.amazon.com/dp/163586206X?tag=dtdgstoreid08-20)](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1647397197?tag=dtdgstoreid08-20) with awareness of bodily changes (heart rate, breathing).

Andrew Huberman, Professor of Neurobiology and Ophthalmology, Stanford School of Medicine
Studies and research cited include works on neuroimaging, inflammation, and gratitude meditation, such as:
- Antonio Damasio’s research
- Brain Behavior and Immunity (2021) study
- Nature Scientific Reports